Women’s History – JackHadleyBlackHistoryMuseum

Mrs. Gertrude Horne is the First Black Woman to open a Beauty Culture School in Thomasville, Georgia in the late 1940’s. She was president of the Thomasville Beauty Culturist League in 1954.

Dr. Linda Walden was the first African American woman to practice medicine in Cairo, Georgia.

Marie Hadley Robinson is the first professional Opera Singer from Thomasville, Georgia. Additionally, she performed all over Europe, South America, and the United States.

Victoria Phillas Thompson Perry, was the first African American Woman to be crowned Miss Thomasville in the local 1978 Miss Thomasville Pageant.

Jeannie Vicks was the principal of Douglass Elementary School until the school officially closed.

Dorothy Brown Hubbard was the first African American mayor of Albany, Georgia, one of the state's largest cities.

Dorothy Dandridge was the first African American woman to be nominated for the Academy Awards in the category "Best Actress."

The African American Registered Nurses Program was the first in Thomasville for African American Women, It consisted of three years of training, and afterwards the Women could seek jobs at any Archbold Hospital.

Shirley Franklin was the first African American woman to be elected Mayor in a major southern city. She served 8 years as the mayor of Atlanta and helped facilitate unprecedented population growth of the city.

Leah Sears-Collin was the first African American woman to be selected to sit on the Georgia Supreme Court.

Nicola Chislay was a graduate from Douglass High School in Thomasville, Georgia. After graduation she moved to New York City where she became the first African American to model for Pepsi.

Clarice Hobbs and Helen Clark are the only two women of the "Thomasville Six" of the local NAACP branch that sued Thomas County due to the at-large election system being unconstitutional.

Agnes Hadley Adams and Rose Louise Hadley are sisters to James "Jack" Hadley and born in Thomasville, Georgia. Both Women are accomplished singers, and piano players. Anges Hadley Adams holds a Masters in Music from Wayne State University, While Rose Louise Hadley holds a Masters in Music from Columbia University in New York City.

Mrs. Gertrude Horne is the First Black Woman to open a Beauty Culture School in Thomasville, Georgia in the late 1940’s. She was president of the Thomasville Beauty Culturist League in 1954.

Alicia Hester, a native of Thomas County, is the first African American to be elected to County Tax Commissioner.

Helena Duhart Blondell, from Thomasville, Georgia, is one of the first African American Stewardess' hired by United Airlines in 1968

Mrs. Chappelle served as curriculum instructor for 40 years in Thomas County.

Bessie Coleman was the first African-American woman to hold a pilot license in the United States, she accomplished this during the era of racial prejudice and segregation in the country.

Annie Mae Bowdry Hayes was the first African American to vote in the Democratic Primary in Thomasville, Georgia in 1946.

Rutha Harris, from Albany, Georgia, was a founding member of the SNCC freedom singers, who sang in protest and support for the Civil Rights movement in the United States.